Desalination and lithium collection system

ABSTRACT

A desalination and lithium collection system has a primary brine chamber receiving brine from a brine inlet. A charged metal has anodes and cathodes, submerged in the brine in the primary brine chamber. Electrical power applied is to the charged metal as alternating current having a frequency of less than 2kHz for conducting a primary electrolysis. A water vapor collection chamber fluidly connected to the primary brine chamber and configured to collect water vapor generated from the charged metal. A condenser chamber is fluidly connected to the water vapor collection chamber and configured to condense water vapor. A freshwater chamber is fluidly connected to the condenser and configured to collect freshwater.

The present invention claims priority from U.S. provisional patent63/276,477 filed Nov. 5, 2021 entitled Novel Method To DesalinizeThrough Fast Oxidation Of Noble Metals, by same inventor Cole Franklin,the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of desalination and lithiumextraction.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

California seeks an end to new gasoline car sales over the next decade,which will increase demand for lithium for use in lithium electricvehicle batteries. Highly concentrated brine having high concentrationof lithium is already known in areas such as the Salton Sea inCalifornia. The industry needs an environmentally friendly method toextract lithium deposits from areas with highly concentrated brine.

Modern desalination plants utilize filtration and reverse osmosis toremove salt ions from the seawater to create freshwater. The downside tothe modern technique is it forms brine, a higher concentration of saltywater is then dumped back into the ocean creating problems for sea life.Current saltwater power plants rely on reverse osmosis to createpressure between a salty water and fresh water. These systems can beused in areas where fresh water and salt water is available. So farthere are no solutions to create saltwater power in areas where freshwater does not exist. Inventor Wilkins describes a Method And ApparatusFor Desalination in U.S. Pat. No. 8,182,693, filed Dec. 16, 2009 bySiemens Industry Inc., which involves filtering, then applying anelectro deionized station process, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference. A variety of different ultrasonicmethods having frequency ranges of 20 kHz and over have been used forbrine desalination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a combination desalination and lithium recoverymethod. It is an object of the present invention to conserve naturalresources by producing clean water and lithium. Lithium is a key mineralneeded for electrically powered vehicles and photovoltaic powered homes.

A desalination and lithium collection system has a primary brine chamberreceiving brine from a brine inlet. A charged metal has anodes andcathodes, submerged in the brine in the primary brine chamber.Electrical power applied is to the charged metal as alternating currenthaving a frequency of less than 2 kHz for conducting a primaryelectrolysis. A water vapor collection chamber fluidly connected to theprimary brine chamber and configured to collect water vapor generatedfrom the charged metal. A condenser chamber is fluidly connected to thewater vapor collection chamber and configured to condense water vapor. Afreshwater chamber is fluidly connected to the condenser and configuredto collect freshwater.

The desalination and lithium collection system also has a secondarybrine chamber. The secondary brine chamber houses a secondaryelectrolysis that includes a lithium filter and a charged lithiumcollection plate that is preferably made of copper. The lithiumprecipitates from the brine, passes through the lithium filter andadheres to the charged lithium collection plate during the secondaryelectrolysis. The copper plate can then be replaced with a new one andshipped to a lithium battery manufacturing facility. The lithium batterymanufacturing facility can then reverse the electrolysis to transfer thelithium onto battery components. The lithium battery manufacturingfacility can then send the clean lithium collection plates back to thedesalination and lithium collection facility for continuous andsustainable recycling.

The charged metal is preferably a noble charged metal selected from thegroup of copper, silver, gold, platinum, or the like. The water vaporcollection chamber is connected to a primary turbine. The primaryturbine generates electricity that is applied back to the electricalpower for regenerating a portion of the electrical power used to chargethe charged metal. The charged metal oxidizes the brine with a reductionwherein water disassociates at an anode of the charged metal during theprimary electrolysis. The water changes phase from a liquid to a gas.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the desalination and lithium recovery systemand method.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing turbine energy recovery.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a metal rod array having anodes andcathodes.

The following callout list of elements can be a useful guide inreferencing the element numbers of the drawings.

20 Primary Brine Chamber

21 Brine Inlet

23 Excited Noble Metal

24 Oxidizing Reaction

25 Bubbles

26 Brine

30 Vapor Tank

31 Water Vapor

32 Condenser

33 Freshwater

34 First Turbine

35 Electricity Transmission

36 Potable Overpressure

37 Water Power Source

38 Freshwater Outlet

40 Secondary Brine Chamber

41 Filter

42 Cover Plate

43 Lithium Deposit

51 First Metal Member

52 Second Metal Member

53 Third Metal Member

54 Fourth Metal Member

55 Fifth Metal Member

56 Sixth Metal Member

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As seen in FIG. 1 , a column of water vapor 31 rises in a vapor tank 30and provides condensing water in a condenser 32. The freshwater 33 isreceived from the condensing water area. An excited noble metal 23 in aprimary brine chamber 20 receives ocean water and brine 26 from a brineinlet 21. After conversion to gas, the brine 26 becomes moreconcentrated and is led to a brine outlet 22. The brine outlet 22connects to a secondary brine chamber 40. The secondary brine chamber 40has a filter 41 with a copper plate 42 behind the filter 41. Lithiumdeposits 43 are received on the copper plate 41 while other materials donot pass through the filter 41.

Thus, the present invention uses a first electrolysis in a primary brinechamber 20 for vaporizing water, to concentrate brine, and then has asecondary brine chamber 40 which can then be used to extract with himdeposits from water through a filter 41. The lithium ions areelectromagnetically drawn through the filter 41 to the cover plate 42because the copper plate has an electrical charge.

The present invention method powers up the noble metal and drives highenergy oxidization through the salts which would normally slowly corrodeand oxidize. Here instead depending on frequency, power and other modesof excitation can cause the sea water to quickly transition to steam.Leaving salts and other minerals behind while steam is captured andcondensed into potable water.

The present invention method uses use low power to excite noble metalssuch as Ag, W, Ti, Pd, Pt, and others to drive high energy oxidizationthrough the salts which would normally slowly corrode and oxidize themetal. Here instead depending on frequency (with lower frequencypreferred in the range of 0-1000 Hz) and power over 10W creates othermodes of excitation that cause the sea water to quickly transition tovapor. Leaving salts and other minerals behind while the vapor iscaptured and condensed into potable water. These vapors can be excitedfurther to steam through the addition of over energy by increasing thepower of supplemental energy such as microwave. Once the hot steam isgenerated the process of water separation becomes one that drivesturbines and recovers some of the power used. For example, incomingseawater to a tank can oxidize at and excited noble metal to createwater vapor. The water vapor can then be condensed in a cooling towerand collected in a freshwater tank.

This system creates power first from steam generation then producesfresh water that can drive a small power plant to power the steamgeneration. The excess power can be used to power a grid and providefresh portable water.

The charged noble metal generates steam which can power a turbine. Theturbine generates power and the water remaining from the turbine processcan be harvested. The potable overpressure is retained for use. Thisalso generates excess power out which can be transmitted on high-powertransmission lines. The turbine or the saltwater power source can thenpower the charging of the noble metal.

The process preferably is a low-power process. Low power between 0-10Wgenerally has no effect so the operation zone is 11-50W defined by thegraph showing the onset of the activation of the material at above 11W,which is preferably in the 25W/cm² area. when higher power is used itwould be possible if the load/flow of water is increased then more powerif required to keep up. A water flow rate of 50 ml/min at 25W can bedefined as operating point, with nonlinear extrapolation at 100 ml/minat 30W and 200 ml/min at 50W and so on.

The power is electrically delivered to the charged noble metal. It is alow frequency process so low frequencies are preferred or even ultra lowfrequency, but direct current can be used but for ease of operationalternating current in the range of 60-1000 Hz preferably at 60 Hz forcompatibility with household electric current. Higher frequencies suchas 2 kHz shuts down this process and only heats up the sample. Ifheating the sample is preferred in a setup Where creating heat is neededin say running a steam turbine then microwave energy is preferred.Microwave energy allows for fast boiling of the solution and once theheated noble metal is obtained can deliver a lot of boiling and steambut this is different than the main noble metal oxidation that dominatesthe water reduction (i.e. water breaking down into vapor) process. Nomechanical energy needs to be delivered to the water.

While power is applied, the brine acts as a catalyst for the waterreduction that forms the water vapor and causes the semi noble and noblemetal to fast oxidize. Some electrical charge may travel from the anodeto the cathode through the brine.

This creates a high-energy oxidization. For example, silver is a noblemetal but can oxidize in the presence of applied power and will tarnishand corrode faster than if left in the open air. This process speedsthat process up to the point where it releases a photon. This is asimilar process being used today in EUV photo lithography where theytake a molten W (a semi Noble metal) and shoot water/steam at it and itproduces very bright light that is used to expose patterns forsemiconductors. The present process is more like a water fountain wherethis is occurring and the EUV photolithography process is more of awater mist.

The noble metal oxidizes the brine with a simple water reduction wherewater breaks down at the anode of the metal. The reaction can alternatewith oxidation and reduction transposing between the anode and cathodewhich can alternate with the alternating current.

An example of a half reaction is as follows:

Oxidation at anode: 2 H₂O(l)→O₂(g)+4 H⁺(aq)+4e⁻

Reduction at cathode: 2 H+(aq)+2e-→H₂(g)

the other half is

Cathode (reduction): 2 H₂O(l)+2e⁻→H₂(g)+2 OH⁻(aq)

As seen in FIG. 2 , the noble charged metal 23 in the brine 26 in theprimary brine chamber 20 receives a constant flow of ocean water from abrine inlet 21. The noble charged metal 23 is an array of anodes andcathodes that generate a steam to a first turbine 34 which then drawspotable overpressure 36 through a conduit to power a saltwater powersource 37. The first turbine 34 powers an electrical transmission 35 forproviding electricity to the system. The saltwater power source 37 canprovide electrical power back to the noble charged metal 23 so as torecover a portion of electrical energy output. Thus, the turbinesdecrease the total amount of thermodynamic inefficiency in the system.The anodes and cathodes of the noble charged metal 23 can be powered ina low-frequency process that further conserves electrical resources.

As seen in FIG. 3 , the anode and cathode can be formed of conductivematerials and applied to a brine solution so that the current passesthrough the brine. The current may create a plasma that generates steam.The anode and cathode can be formed as rods or bars having water flowpassing through them. Preferably, the alternating current under 100hzcan be used for creating an oxidizing reaction 24 which manifests assteam in bubbles 25. The brine 26 becomes more concentrated which canthen be used for a filter lithium collection such as on a copper plate.The negative bias on the plate provides a secondary electrolysis forlithium collection with a byproduct of desalination.

The key feature of the present invention is that regeneration ofelectricity by turbines and recovery of freshwater as a byproductjustifies the electrical input expenditure for sequestering lithium viaa two-step electrolysis system and method.

1. A desalination and lithium collection system: a. a primary brinechamber receiving brine from a brine inlet; b. a charged metal includinganodes and cathodes, submerged in the brine in the primary brinechamber; c. electrical power applied to the charged metal as alternatingcurrent having a frequency of less than 2 kHz for conducting a primaryelectrolysis; d. a water vapor collection chamber fluidly connected tothe primary brine chamber and configured to collect water vaporgenerated from the charged metal; e. a condenser chamber fluidlyconnected to the water vapor collection chamber and configured tocondense water vapor; and f. a freshwater chamber fluidly connected tothe condenser and configured to collect freshwater.
 2. The desalinationand lithium collection system of claim 1, further comprising a secondarybrine chamber, wherein the secondary brine chamber houses a secondaryelectrolysis, wherein the secondary electrolysis includes a lithiumfilter and a charged lithium collection plate, wherein lithiumprecipitates from the brine, passes through the lithium filter andadheres to the charged lithium collection plate during the secondaryelectrolysis.
 3. The desalination and lithium collection system of claim2, wherein the charged metal is a noble charged metal selected from thegroup of copper, silver, gold, platinum.
 4. The desalination and lithiumcollection system of claim 2, wherein the water vapor collection chamberis connected to a primary turbine, wherein the primary turbine generateselectricity that is applied back to the electrical power forregenerating a portion of the electrical power used to charge thecharged metal.
 5. The desalination and lithium collection system ofclaim 2, wherein the charged metal oxidizes the brine with a reductionwherein water disassociates at an anode of the charged metal during theprimary electrolysis, wherein the water changes phase from a liquid to agas.
 6. The desalination and lithium collection system of claim 1,wherein the charged metal is a noble charged metal selected from thegroup of copper, silver, gold, platinum.
 7. The desalination and lithiumcollection system of claim 1, wherein the water vapor collection chamberis connected to a primary turbine, wherein the primary turbine generateselectricity that is applied back to the electrical power forregenerating a portion of the electrical power used to charge thecharged metal.
 8. The desalination and lithium collection system ofclaim 1, wherein the charged metal oxidizes the brine with a reductionwherein water disassociates at an anode of the charged metal during theprimary electrolysis, wherein the water changes phase from a liquid to agas.